Apple Maps Scoop: What A Dangerous App To Navigate With… Leaves You In Lurch

And you thought it was a one-off incident when in December, the Australian police announced that Apple Maps was “life threatening” due to grave mistakes that could lead users to get lost in the Outback region? It happened because the town of Mildura is listed 43 miles away from its actual position, and users who could follow Apple Maps’ directions to this place could get lost in a region without habitation and cellphone coverage. There had already been an incident when a person walked for 24 hours to reach a point with mobile coverage.

The next to call Apple Maps “dangerous” is the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in Victoria. The Agency’s FireReady apps for iOS which lets users report bushfires. However, the app uses the inaccurate maps provided by Apple Maps, in which many locations are marked wrong. When fires are reported using this app, firefighters are unable to reach the exact location quickly.

There have been many complaints regarding the FireReady app – one of them mentioned how Apple Maps fails to show the name of a city or township occasionally, which makes it hard for rescue operators to reach the location. CFA has supposedly lodged a complaint with Apple Australia regarding these issues, and was told to report the issue using the Apple Maps app.

CFA has advised people to rely on more than one source for emergency information, including their own website which also shows warnings. The CFA system uses Google Maps for their operations.